Bottle-filling apparatus.



N. SPANGENBERGBR. BOTTLE FILLING APPARATUS. APPLICATION FILED MAY 20,190B.

Patented J an. 3, 191 1.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

- WITNESSES: g

N; W. SPANGENBERGBR.

BOTTLE FILLING APPARATUS.

APPLIUATION FILED MAY 20, 190B Patented Jan. 3, 1911.

3 SHEETSBHBET 2 w WM? BY v v i) I 3 SAgh/EY INVENTOR.

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N. W. SEANGENBERGEE. BOTTLE FILLING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 20, 19031 Patented Jan. 3, 1 911,

3 SKEETB-SHEET 3.

IN VEN TOR.

NQV MWSx MB 1O improvements upon the construction set UNITED stratusPATENT oFFIcu BOTTLE- FILLING APPARATUS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 3, 19 11 Application filed May 20, 1 9GB. Serial No.433,822.

T all whom it may concern: v

Be it knownitha't I, NIC'HULAS IV. Senna anemone, a citizen of the UitedStates. residing at Springfield, in the county of Clark and State ofOhio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Bottle-Filling Apparatus, of which the followingis a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in bottling apparatus, and moreparticularly to forth in U. S. Patent- No. 608,158, dated July 26 1898.p

While the invention hereinafter set forth is described in connectionwith said patented device. it is to be understood that it is notllITlltQl'ltO use with said construction, but

I may be used with other similar devices now The machines to which thepresent inven: tion appertains are adapted to the bottllng of liquids ofeither a gaseous or n0n-gaseous nature, either with or without chargingeach bottle with. syrup or other flavoring or reinforcing liquids inappropriately vvaried and measured quantities.

The object of the invention is to provide simple and etlicient means formaintaining a rapid and uniform flow of the fluids, and to obviate thenecessity for frequent snifting, thus rendering the apparatus not onlymore rapid in operation, but likewise more which the present inventionis adapted to be economical, since frequent snifting re sults in loss ofboth gas and liquid.

In bottling apparatus such as thatto applied, it is customary to locatethe main liquid and syrup supply reservoirs on a floor above thebottling room, or otherwise elerated,.froni which. reservoirs supplycon-' duits lead direct to the bottling machine. The syrup being aviscous flu d frequently contains entrained bubbles of air which may becarried into the measuring chamber unknown to the operator, and thusreduce the charge of syrup whereby the bottled product will beununiform. Furthermorein operating the machine rapidly it is necessarythat the measuring chamber be rapidly tilled durin the interval betweenthe discharge of the fluid. To provide means whereby the air bubblesmaybe permitted i' t o separate from the body of syrup, and toaccelerate the flow thereof, and to provide; means whereby thecarbonated Water or other fluid may be rapidly a-nd readily-dischargedWithout the nechamber 0 cessity of, frequent snifting, are among'theobjects of the present invention.

:Vith the above primary and other incidental objects in view as willmore fullyiappear from the specification, the'inveiition consists of themeans, device s, construction and mode of operation, ortheireqiiivalen'ts hereinafter described and set forth n claii'ns.

In the drawings the complete bottli chine is not shown, but onlysuchpai" I are necessary to illustrate the relation of he presentinvention thereto, the illustrated machine parts being those of the saidPatent No. 608,15S,'but it is to be understood that. other bottlefilling and sealing'a pparatus may be substituted therefor.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a plan View of the bottling machine headwith the pres side elevation of the same. Fig. Sis a sectional view of"the Water or other fluid'dispensing-devices. Fig. 4 is asectional'viewof the syrup dispensing and measuring devices, the measu Fig. 5 is asectional view of the measuring chamber in empty condition. Fig.6 is adetail plan and sectional view of the strainer or sieve through whichthe syrup is passed,

and the gasket therefor. Figs. 7 and 8 illuss trate .a less expensiveform of syrupreser voir.

Like parts are indicated by similar characters of referencethroughoutthe several views, v

The head of the bottling machine is ada ted to be verticallyreciprocated, and coinprises the cross head 1 carried on the ver ti'calrods 2; on the cross head 1 issupported ring device being charged."-

a cylindrical" chamber 3 into whiclf the neck of the bottle to becharged with. carbonated water is inserted from below, within which islocated the discharge: orifice for thewater, and the bottle" sealingmechanisnn'all as describedin the aforementioned patent. In addition tothe chamber 3 there is also carried on the machine head the measuringchamber 4 provided with a .control cock, and with a pendant dischargenozzle The construction is-such that two bot-t ties are synchronouslycharged, one with syrup andthe other with carbonated water or otherfluid, the syrup charged'bottle be ing shifted at eachoperationtoreceive the charge of water and anenipty bottle prsented to the syrupnozzle 5. In orderthat the product be uniformit isnecessary that eachbottle'receive a predetermlned amount of-syrup. The syrup measuringdevice com- "prises the chamber a, divided into two comtion. Uponopening the measuring chamber 515 to the syrup supply the diaphragm islifted 1 toa greater or less degree according to the adjustment of thegage screw 9 by which the movementof the plunger 7 is limited. The

' control cock for the syrup supply comprises an integral portion 10 proecting downward from: the chamber 4 and adapted to be revolved withinthe sleeve 11 by the hand lever 12.; Within the portion 10 are two,curved conduits or passages, an upper passage 1.3

communicating with the chamber 4, and a lower passage 14 communicatingwith the discharge nozzle 5. position as in Fig. 5 the passage 13registers with the syrup inlet 15, and the measuring chamber ispermitted to fill with syrup from the supply source. Upon the portion 10being revolved through substantially ninety degrees the passage 13 andpassage 14: are

brought into registry with a -U shaped passage 16 in the valve block 17,whereby the.

nozzle 5 is brought into communication with the chamber 4 andthecontents thereof discharged.

f to the atmosphere.

. and 20, which are depressed by a cam faced Located in the valve block17 are an intake duct'or passa e for the liquid to be bottled whichleads rom the intake orifice 18 to the filling ,cha'mber in the chamber3, and a snifting' duct leading from said chamber These ducts arecontrolled by spring actuated plunger valves 19 lug 2 1 on the measuringchamber 4, when said measuring chamber is rotated by the shown in thedrawings is identical with that of said Patent No. 608,158 to whichreferthe parts and operation.

' orifice {5 corresponds with that designated hand lever 12.

As thus far described the construction ence is had for more detaildescription of n in said patent, and thewater inlet orifice 18 with 2'of the patent.

The above mechanism forms no part of the present invention except incombination with the constructions hereinafter described.

In thedrawings 22 is-the conduit leading from the general syrup supplywhich-dis- H charges into a supplemental reservoir ;.com-

prising a cup shaped member 23 attached to the 'orifice 15, and atransparent member 24 between the shoulder 25 and the flanged edge -Whenoccupying one The syrup inlet formed with the shoulder 25 on which thelower flanged edge 26 of the member 24: rests, a strainer or sieve 27being interposed 26 of the member 24. The edge of the strainer of sieve27 is inclosed in a rubber gasket 28 substantially U shaped in crosssection, as shown in Fig. 6. The parts are secured together by acompression ring 29 screw threaded intothe member 23 and bearing on theflanged edge of the member 23. A valve or cut oif 30'is located in theconduit 22 adjacent to the supplemental reservoir.

The supplemental reservoir thus described is located as close to themeasuring chamber-4 as is possible.

The supplemental reservoir permits any entrained bubbles of air whichmay pass through the conduit 22 with the syrup to rise to the top of thereservoir, while the syrup settles to the bottom thereof, forming asolid body of syrup from which the charge is drawn into the measuringchamber 4:. ."ilhen the conduit 22 was connected direct to the measuringchamber as contemplated in said patent, such entrained air bubblespassed into the measuring chamber, thereby diminishing the charge ofsyrup, ahdcausing the amount of syrup delivered to various bottles to beirregular.

The member 24: being of glass or other transparent mfaterial, permitsthe operator to 'observe the syrup supply within the reservo1r, and ifan abnormal amount of a11- collects 1t may be .removed by disconnectingthe coupling 31,

and allowing the reservoir to fill to the top and again coupling theconduit thereto... Furthermore the operator by observing the reservoiris warned as to the condition of the syrup supply, whether itis flowingfreely, and that'sufiicient is ready "for a full I charge. The syrup.which on account of .its viscous nature flows slowly through a longconduit, collects in the reservoir dur-' ing the time that the charge isbeing ex pelled from the measuring chamber to the bottle, so that uponoperation 3 of the control cock the measuring chamber is quickly filledfrom the solid body of syrupadjacently located which need only passthrough a very short conduit, thus enabling the machine to be morerapidly operated than when the operator must wait for the measuringchamber to fill from the conduit 22. The strainer or sieve'27, preventsany thickened mass of material, orfruit seeds or pulp or other foreignmatter to enter the measuring chamber, and further assists inrestraining and breaking up theentrained'air bubbles, whereby theportion 23 of the reservoir will contain a solid body ofclarified syrup.By disconnecting the union 31 and connecting the reservoir with a .watersupply the reser- 215 augrilia The rose-1 Y-Oll' connected to theorifice.

ble. form as shown, and is of a capacity somecleaned. Byseparating thecomponent parts of the reservoir by unscrewing the ring 251, the partsi'naybe more thoroughly cleaned.

5 The annular .U shaped gasket 28 has in practice been found veryellicient.

ln filling the bottle. nth water or other ln llICl when the water su )HVconduit 32. l l leadm fron the eneral source ot'su )l\ 1a is connecteddirect to the intake orifice lb",

it is found necessary to fl@(illt.!llli open the snifting valve. 20, oras spoken of by ma chine'operators to frequently -give the bot- .tle airwhich really is permitting the air .15 within the bottle to escape whendisphuj'ed bythe water.

It is frequelitly necessary .0 snift the bottle. as often as from fourto six times during the filling process. This continual snift- Q0 ingresults in a great loss of gas, and of water or other liquid entrainedwith the gas and air-and carried out, and very materially retards thespeed of operation. T o olniate the 1 for frequent snifting an reservoir33 for water is provided.

1 8,"\ritli'a"s short a passage between the reservoir and the dischargeorifice as s possi- The reservoir 33 18 preferably oval 1n tion of theair within the bottle being displaced by the entrance of the water willforce its way upward through the ductto the reservoir 33, and anotherportion of water will pass down to the bottle,"this intermittent. flowof water in one direction and air in the other continuing until thebottleis filled, and the air collected in the reservoir: The passagebetween the auxiliary reservoir and the bottle being comparativelyshort, the interval between the intermittent flow of the Water will bevery short, and the bottle may be rapidly filled wlth not more than onesnlfting operation being necessary. The air from the reservolr can passin the same manner up the conduit 32 to the source of supply. However onaccount of the comparative great length of the conduit 32 the flowthrough same will be slow, but will con tinue irrespective of Whetherthe valve 19 is open or closed until the reservoir is filled.

Without the use of theauxihary reservoir,

th flow through the conduit can only be had while the valve 19 is openand the bottle filling The conduit 32 being of considerable length agreat interval of time will be convoir and measuring chamber is readilysinned by the upward passage ofthe air bubble and the return flow of thefluid, thereby making the filling process very slow. lly the use of the.respective reservoirs the filling operation is greatly accelerated. thebottle is charged with water directly from a body of liquid in thereservoir 3-), the passage between the reservoir and bottle being shortthe interchange of air and water will be rapid. The movement of air andWater in the conduit 32 will be much slower but to COlllpGllSulG forthis the movement in the conduit \villcontinue after the closing of thevalve 19, and during the interval bdtween the filling operations. Thusthere will be a dillerentialflou' of the fluid, slowlv andsuljlstantially continuous from the supply to the reservoir, and rapidlybut intermittent; fromlhe reservoir to the bottle.

It is to be understood that the filling operation just described is moreor less theoretical, but the advantages of the construction shown anddescribed in connection with both the syrup and Water supply have beenfully demonstrated by extensive practical Between the syrup and waterdispensing mechanisn'i there is an interdependence,

it. being necessary for the economical opera tion of the machine thatthe syrup and water charges be delivered in substantially the 9 sametime, and it would be of but little advantage to provide means toaccelerate one and not the other, as the slow flowing charge woulddetermine the speed of the operation.

It has been found that the manufacture of the member 2a issomewhatexpensive thereforeto further reduce the cost of manufacture asyrup reservoir as illustrated in Figs. 7 and 8 may be employed. Inconstructing this form of reservoir the lower portion 23 is shaped asbefore described, on the inner annular shoulder 25 of which rests acylindrical glass tube 36 surmounted by a collar 37 having an innerannular flange 38 resting on the tube 37. Rubber or other gaskets 39 areinterposed between thetube and shoulder 25 and between the tube andflange '38, as shown in Fig. 8.

The parts are held in adjustment by tie rods 40 engaging ears or lugsall on the *lower member and similar ears or lugs 42 on the collar 37.The interior upper portion of the collar 37 is screw threaded for thereception of a cap or dome portion 43, to which the syrup conduit 22 isconnected by a suitable union as before described. Between the cap 43and flange 38 is interposed the strainer or screen 27 inclosed in agasket 28 as described and shown-in Fig. 6. It. is ob vious that ifdesired the strainer 27. might be substituted for the lowermost gasket39, between the tube 36 and shoulder 25. The operation is exactly asbefore described. Intcrmediate the reservoir and the measuringchamber isa drainage cock 44 by which the contents of the reservoir may be drawnofl after the valve 30 has been closed, and also for use in flushing orWashing the reservoir,

Having thus described my invent-ion 1 claim; v

1. Ina bottle filling apparatus, in combination with the syrup supplyconduit, a supplemental reservoir comprising a cupshaped member carriedby said conduit adjacent the measuring device, an upwardly extendinginternally threaded flange forminga seaton the upper edge of saidcupshaped' member, a transparent bottle-shaped member seated. on saidseat, an annulus surrounding said bottle-shaped member and threadedwithin said flange to secure said bottle shaped member, an inletremovably secured to the mouth of said bottle-shaped member, and avalvedisposed in said conduit directly above said mouth.

2. In a bottle filling'ap-paratus, in combination with the syrup supplyconduit, a supplemental reservoir comprising a cupshaped member carriedby said conduit adjacent the measuring device, an upwardly extendinginternally threaded flange form: ing seat on the upper edge of saidcupshaped member, a transparent bottle-shaped member seated on saidseat, a straining device carried between said seat and the lower edge ofsaid transparent member, an annulus surrounding said bottle-shapedmember and threaded within. said flange to secure said bottle-shapedmember, an inlet removably secured to the mouth of said bottleshapedmember, and a valve disposed in said conduit directly above said mouth.

3. In a bottle filling apparatus, in combination with the syrup supplyconduit, a supplemental reservoir comprising a cu-p shaped membercarried. by said conduit adjacent the measuring device, an upwardlyextending internally threaded. flange torming a seat on the upper edgeof said cupshaped member, a transparent bottle-shaped member seated onsaid seat, a straining device carricd between said seat and the loweredge of said transparent member, said straining device comprising asheet of perforated material oined by an annular gasket U-shape in crosssection, an annulus surrounding said bottle-shaped member and threadedwithin said flange to secure said bottle-shaped member, an inletremovably secured to the mouth of said bottle-shaped member, and a valvedisposed in said co11- duit directly above said mouth.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto sc my hand this 1st day of May A.D. 1908.

NICHOLAS W. SPANGENBERGER.

